Learning languages key part of junior hockey

Rocket forward Alex Gallant is escorted to the penalty box after a fight in a recent 7-3 loss to the Saint John Sea Dogs in Charlottetown.

Tomas Pavelka knew three languages when he arrived from the Czech Republic to play junior hockey for the Rocket. Now he speaks five. He knew Czech, German and Russian when he arrived. He has added English and French.

Pavelka struggled early on. He had to adjust to an English-speaking province as well as a smaller ice surface. European rinks have a much larger ice surface.

But it’s not just the European players who have to adjust to an English-speaking province.

When Olivier Croteau first came to P.E.I. through a trade with the Gatineau Olympiques, he struggled with English so he’s impressed with Pavelka.

“When he came here, he could already speak three languages. Now he can speak English and French,” said Croteau.

The Rocket roster includes two players from the Czech Republic. Last year the Rocket had two Czech-born players finish their junior careers with the Rocket. Having them on the team helped them prepare for the Czech rookies, said Rocket assistant captain Josh Currie.

“It helped a lot. We have two guys coming from a European culture and things are totally different here for them.”

Rocket coach Gordie Dwyer helps the players adapt.

“Gordie is great. If he’s talking one-on-one with a French player, he will speak in French,” said rookie Alex Gallant.

The players said the French players are good at speaking English, but the English players admit they can’t speak French.

“I can’t speak a word of French,” said Currie.

Despite not being able to speak Czech, the players do what they can to help Matej Beran and Pavelka.

“It’s a challenge, but we do what we can to help them,” said Croteau.

Beran and Pavelka said their teammates have played a huge part in their adjustments to life in Canada.

Team leading scorer Ben Duffy is well liked by Beran and Pavelka.

“We like Ben Duffy, he has helped us a lot. He’s a great guy,” said Beran.

The players struggled early on, but once they start to know each other, the adjustment was very fast.

“I’m amazed at how fast Beran and Pavelka are adjusting. Pavelka can already speak some French and English,” said billet coordinator Lisa Savard.

WJC Today - Day 7 Recap

Russia 2 , Czech Republic 1 - Summary

The Russians were victorious Monday night as they defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in overtime to advance to the semi-finals. Zheldakov scored at 1:03 of overtime, as the Czechs suffered a devastating loss.

Daniil Apalkov and Grigori Zheldakov were the scorers for Team Russia. 17-year-old Andrei Vasilevski stopped 43 shots for the Russians.

Oceanic forward Jakub Culek scored the lone goal for the Czech Republic.

The Russians are set to face Team Canada tonight, the first time they’ve met since they upset Canada last year in the finals, capturing the gold medal.

Finland 8 , Slovakia 5 - Summary

Led by Mikael and Markus Granlund, Team Finland advances to the semi-finalsafter a 8-5 victory over Slovakia. Temmu Pulkkinen had a goal and an assist, while Joel Armia, Roope Hamalainen, Alexsander Barkov and Joonas Donskoialso scored.

Barkov, 16, is the youngest player to ever score in tournament history, passing Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby by 21 days .

Richard Mraz had a goal and two helpers, while Matus Chovan and Marko Dano each had a goal and an assist for Team Slovakia. Marerk Tverdon and Martin Daloga also scored.

Sami Aittokallio stopped 24 shots for Finland, while Juraj Simboch made 30 saves for the Slovaks.

Switzerland 4 , Denmark 3 - Summary

Tanner Richard scored in overtime as Team Switzerland defeated Denmark in a Relegation match-up.

Cedric Schneuwly, Alessio Bertaggia and Gregory Hofmannalso scored for the Swiss.

Nicklas Jensen and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored for Team Denmark.

WJC Today - Day 7 Preview

It's day seven of the World Junior Hockey Championships and there are three games on the clock.

Round robin is now over and team's will now be competing in either the relegation round or the quarter finals.

The scene will now shift to the Pengrowth Saddledom in Calgary, Alta.

Switzerland and Denmark will battle in a relegation-round match at 1 p.m. EST. Switzerland finished round robin with a 1-2-1 record. Denmark lost all four of their games in round robin.

At 5 p.m EST, Slovakia and Finland will battle against each other to earn a spot in tomorrow night's semi-finals match up against Sweden. The loser will play on Wednesday Jan. 4 to qualify for the Bronze medal game.

Slovakia finished the round robin with a 2-2 record for a third place finish in Pool A. They were led by Saint John Sea Dogs forward Tomas Jurco with a goal and six points.

Finland finished second in Pool B with a 3-1 record and were led by Teemu Pulkkinen's five goals and eight points.

Goaltender Christopher Gibson of the Chicoutimi Sagueneens has appeared in two games recording a 4.50 goals-against-average.

Last but not least, is the Czech Republic battling Russia in the second quarter final game of the night at 9 p.m. EST.

Russia finished second place in Pool A with a 3-0-1 record. The Russians are led by Nikita Gusev and Yevgeni Kuznetsov with three goals and nine points each.

Quebec Remparts forward Mikhail Grigorenko has two goals and four points.

The Czech Republic finished third place in Pool B with a 2-2 record and were led by Petr Mrazek's solid goaltending.

The winner will advance to play Canada tomorrow night in the semi-finals. The loser will play on Wednesday Jan. 4 to qualify for the Bronze medal game.

Photo courtesy of TSN.ca

WJC Today - Day 6 Preview

On the final day of the preliminary round, there are four games on the World Junior Championship schedule. Here are some quick previews of all games.

The first game on the schedule is the Czechs taking on Team Finland at 5 p.m. at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Atla. This game can be watched on TSN.

The second game of the night is Switzerland taking on the Slovakia at 7 p.m. in Calgary. This game will not be broadcasted on TSN.

Next up is the Canada - U.S.A. showdown. The Americans, who have already been eliminated from medal contention after a 5-2 loss to Czech Republic last night, will look to get back on the winning track after losing two straight. This game can also be watched on TSN and TSN.ca.

The final game of the night is the Russians taking on Sweden at the Saddledome in Calgary. Gametime is set for 11 p.m.

Standings

Group A

Team	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	PTS
RUS	3	3	0	0	0	9
SWE	3	2	0	1	0	8
SUI	3	1	1	0	1	4
SVK	3	1	2	0	0	3
LAT	4	0	4	0	0	0

Group B

Team	GP	W	L	OTW	OTL	PTS
CAN	3	3	0	0	0	9
CZE	3	2	1	0	0	6
FIN	3	2	1	0	0	6
USA	3	1	2	0	0	3
DEN	4	0	4	0	0	0

Scoring leaders for the tournament can be found HERE.

Photo: Hockey Canada

WJC Today - Day 5 Preview

Day five of the World Junior Hockey Champions is here and we have four games on the schedule today.

The first game on the schedule is the U.S.A. battling the Czech Republic at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alta. at 3:30 p.m. EST. Both teams will be looking for their second wins of the tournament.

The Czechs are led by Rimouski Oceanic's Jakub Culek's three points (0-3) so far in two games. Jiri Riha, Radek Faksa, Petr Holik, Tomas Hertl (2), Dmitrij Jaskin and Tomas Filippi all have goals for the Czech Republic.

The United States are led by Charlie Coyle's three goals and four points in two games. The American forward will be reporting to the Saint John Sea Dogs shortly after the tournament.

Second game of the day is Slovakia and Sweden taking to the ice in Calgary, Alta. at 5:30 p.m. EST. Sweden will be looking for their third win of the tournament, as Slovakia will look to pick up their second win.

Sweden is led by Max Friberg (5-0) and Ludvig Rensfeldt (1-4) who have five points in the country's two games.

The Slovaks scoring has been led by Michael Toman (1-1) and Milos Bubela, each with two points. Saint John Sea Dogs forward Tomas Jurco has one goal in the tournament.

The third game on the schedule is Denmark battling Finland in Edmonton, Alta. at 8 p.m. EST.

Denmark will look to pick up their first win of the tournament as they sit at the bottom of Pool B with no wins and three losses.

Finland on the other hand, will look for their second win of the tournament. Finland is coming off a big upset win over the Americans 4-1 on Tuesday Dec. 27.

The Finns are led by Joel Armia who has two goals and three points.

Denmark has only managed to score five goals so far in three games and have gotten goals from Thomas Spelling, Emil Kristensen, Mathias Bau-Hansen (2) and Nicolai Meyer.

Fourth on the schedule is Latvia and Switzerland at 10 p.m. EST in Calgary, Alta.

Both teams are winless and look for their first wins tonight.